BATTLE AGAINST ECSTASY RAGES ON

Deaths, usage on the rise

Law enforcement agencies across the state are racing to staunch the flow of
Ecstasy hitting the streets before the latest "club drug" fad claims more
young victims.

Authorities concede that it is a race they will have trouble winning because
of the booming popularity of the illegal drug -- which authorities describe
as a "feel good drug" that releases inhibitions.

"The level of dealing has gone up and so have the number of kids using it,"
said Jim McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control, in the
Governor's Office. "Unfortunately, the kids were onto the drug before the
law enforcement agencies were, but we're definitely aware of it now and
fighting to stop it."

Deaths from Ecstasy overdose and its variants have risen substantially in
the past two years and investigators are alarmed at the growing number of
teens using the drug.

"The number of users continues to grow and so do the deaths," McDonough
said. "The majority of users of the drug are in California, Florida and New
York."

One of the largest Ecstasy busts in the country occurred in Broward 10 days
ago at the Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel on Fort Lauderdale beach.

Undercover agents heard about someone selling large quantities of the "club
drug" in the Tampa area six months ago. A deal was made for a large buy in
Broward.

Members of the Southeast Florida Regional Task Force -- made up of local,
state and federal law enforcement agencies -- moved in and seized more than
700,000 tablets, 400 pounds, of the drug.

Police say the pills had a street value of $14.4 million.

Agents say the tablets were shipped through Amsterdam.

Agents arrested three Hungarian citizens -- Adrian Mihok, 24, of Hollywood,
his wife, Erzka, 21, and Olivia Kalaygian, 39, of Pembroke Pines. They are
in the Broward County Jail, on $500,000 bail each. Since they were in the
country illegally, they also are on an immigration hold.

"We're making a concentrated effort to get rid of this drug," McDonough
said. "This bust is just the first of many."

Still, authorities fear they are fighting a losing battle as European drug
cabals market the drug as harmless and cool. The pills are manufactured with
trendy designs and car logos.

In the past three years, Ecstasy, known on the streets as "rolls," has
become the drug of choice for young people. Ecstasy -- also known as MDMA,
for methylenedioxymethamphetamine -- has become commonplace in local clubs,
middle and high schools and raves, said Brent Eaton, a special agent for the
Drug Enforcement Administration.

Pills sell for $10 to $20 apiece and the effects last six to eight hours.

"It is a `feel good' drug and makes people want to hug and touch," said
Bruce Goldberger, chief toxicologist at the University of Florida. "It makes
people do things that they wouldn't normally do."

Users are easy to spot, Goldberger said.

"They're drinking lots of water and sucking on a pacifier or lollipop. They
constantly hug and touch each other."

"Unfortunately, the problem is that everyone thinks it's harmless, but it's
not hard to have psychotic episodes, end up in the hospital or the morgue,"
Eaton said. "Plus, you don't ever know what you're getting when you buy one
of the tablets. We're virtually seeing an explosion of the drug because kids
just aren't getting the fact that it kills."

The problem with Ecstasy is the manufacture and distribution of the drug,
Goldberger said. Many manufacturing labs are based in Europe and use deadly
chemicals, with no one the wiser. Some pills that aren't Ecstasy are stamped
with familiar logos and sold as Ecstasy. The drugs are being manufactured on
barges and in barns in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

In the first half of this year, seven people in Central Florida died from
PMA -- para-methoxyamphetamine -- a deadly version of Ecstasy, according to
the governor's drug control office. The deaths occurred when victims
ingested what they thought was Ecstasy, but really the drug was PMA -- whose
makeup is chemically related to Ecstasy. Another deadly analog of the club
drug, MDMEA (methylenedioxyethylamphetamine), is also sold as Ecstasy and
considered deadly. People overdosing on PMA suffer confusion, vomiting,
seizures and body temperatures ranging from 106 to 108. There is no chance
of survival, Goldberger said.

"It is a horrific killer drug," McDonough said. "People literally look like
a werewolf got to them. They claw at themselves and throw themselves around.
They microwave from the inside out from the high body temperatures."

Some of PMA's symptoms are found in Ecstasy overdoses: increased body and
respiration, rapid heartbeat. Ecstasy has been involved in the overdose
deaths of 46 Floridians in the past 3 1/2, according to the drug control
office.

Though Ecstasy may not be as deadly as PMA, law enforcement agents say
buyers have no way of knowing what they're getting.

Hoping to boost the appeal to young customers, the European cabals
distributing the drug are decorating the pills with logos and bright colors.
Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi trademarks and smiley faces appear on hot pink and
blue tablets.

"It's a gimmick," Eaton said. "This way, a kid will say, `Oh yeah, I had a
Mitsubishi last week and it was really good.'

"But it's a killer drug. It's not cool."

Six people have died from Ecstasy overdoses -- one in Broward, three in
Miami-Dade and one in Palm Beach and one in Jacksonville -- during the first
six months of this year.

On May 24, a 28-year-old Margate woman died from an overdose of Ecstasy,
combined with cocaine. The cause of death was not determined until July 3,
said Harold Schueler, a chief toxicologist at the Broward Medical Examiner's
office.

"We believe the numbers are much higher," Goldberger said. "We think that in
a lot of the traffic fatalities, Ecstasy was a contributing factor."

On Oct. 14, DEA agents and Dutch authorities seized 320 kilograms of the
drug, along with chemicals used in manufacturing the tablets,in Amsterdam.

Law enforcement agencies are hoping that the recent bust at the Sheraton
Yankee Trader and stiffer penalties for those caught with Ecstasy will put a
sizable dent in the trafficking of the club drug.

On Oct. 1, a new state law went into effect, establishing stiffer penalties
for anyone caught selling Ecstasy, with mandatory sentences ranging from
three to 25 years depending on the quantity.